NCN LAX/BASKETBALL BLOG

Freelancer Mike Sabini was at the Peekskill-Wings Academy contest in the Big Apple Classic at Baruch College in New York City on Jan. 16. This is his report.

By Mike Sabini

For at least one half, Peekskill was able to go toe-to-toe with Wings Academy (15-3) — one of the best teams in New York City. Following a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Shaine Carter (15 points) at the end of the second quarter, the Red Devils trailed 29-28.

But Wings squashed any potential Peekskill (6-4) momentum, outscoring the Red Devils 33-12 in the third quarter en route to a 87-63 victory.

“We were passing the ball, crashing the boards and fast-breaking (in the first half),” said Peekskill senior guard Daquan Brickhouse, who scored a team-high 17 points. “In the second half, we lost our focus. We weren’t ready to work under pressure. That starts in the head, it’s mental. If it don’t start there, then it won’t work out.”

Things worked out for Wings in the third quarter, thanks in large part to the play of forward Krystian Forest. Forest, who only got one point in the entire first half, scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the third.

“Forest was hitting 3s and killing us on the boards,” Peekskill Head Coach Lou Panzanaro said. “He was getting everything he wanted on us inside.”

Brickhouse elaborated on Forest’s performance.

“We didn’t close out on his shots,” said Brickhouse, who earned the Classic’s sportsmanship award. “Then when he was pump faking, we would leave our feet and he would go around us. He was doing good — and so were other players on the team — and it just hurt us.”

While the loss was a bad one for Peekskill, Brickhouse said the team got a lesson in what type of toughness, intensity and focus is needed to defeat an elite team like Wings.

“This is a good experience to play a team that actually knows how to play basketball instead of playing teams that are OK,” Brickhouse said. “We came in here with a winning mentality but it didn’t work out that way.”

Panzanaro said the only difference between the first half and the second half was the REd Devils’ effort and intensity.

“We played with a lot of intensity the first half,” Panzanaro said. “As soon as the third quarter started, I didn’t see it there. Whether it’s conditioning, whether it’s being tired, they were lackadaisical in the second half.

“I learned is that if our heart doesn’t get any stronger, it won’t make a difference who we play, we aren’t going to win any games. We have to play harder all the way through, it doesn’t matter who the competition is. If we leave here and play down to the competition, we haven’t learned anything. That’s my fear.”

Peekskill’s Sean Smythe earned the Classic’s Campus Athlete Academic Achievement Award.

Brickhouse to go for 1,000

With 993 career points, Peekskill’s Brickhouse should reach the 1,000-point milestone Jan. 20 against visiting Ossining.

“It really is a tribute to Daquan because his primary job is as a point guard to distribute the ball,” Panzanaro said. “For him to be able to run the offense and still score like he does says a lot about him.”

The following players also scored 1,000 points under Panzanaro: Mookie Jones (2008), Ralph Watts (’09), Rashard Turner (’02), Elton Brand (Class of ’97) and Scotty Smith (’89).

Brand actually cracked the 2,000-point milestone, finishing his career with 2,027 points.